converting from saltwater to planted--help - Large Aquariums and Ponds

blacktiprs · 03-26-2008, 10:03 AM

I have a 220 gal saltwater aquarium that we are thinking about switching over to a planted tank. I have never done a planted tank this large before and would like some help planning.

The tank is 6'x2'x29'' with a single central overflow to a 50 gallon wet/dry sump that has dual returns with gen-x (pcx-30) pumps. The current lighting is 420 watts of VHOs that sit about 14'' above the water in the canopy.

What I was thinking of doing was to change out the wet/dry sump for a different one since I don't like how it is setup in the first place. Then instead of using two return pumps I would replumb and only use one return pump run through a UV and split it to the two returns.

As for the lighting I am not sure if using the VHOs will be good enough for the plants since the lowest kelvin rating is 10,000k. I know they have the watts per gallon, about 2 w/g, but will not having the lower kelvin bulbs ultimetly cause the plants to die? Also I guess the height of the tank and distance the bulbs are from the water are going to play a factor in the light set up as well. If I need to change out the lighting what would be a good choice?

I don't have a clue what to use for substrate since the bottom is hard to reach for cleaning I would prefer to use something that I would not have to clean every week or even every month. Any help here would be appriciated.

CO2 I am assuming on such a large system I would need to use this but then again I don't know.

It is going to be a community tank possibly with discus and I plan on having a large centerpice of driftwood.

Any help on anything would be appriceated.

Thanks, Matt

Chostshrimp · 03-30-2008, 05:37 AM

Well from I have read, 6,500K to 10,000k of kelvin lights are ok for planted aquairums. I have 2 small 10,000k Compact flouresent light bulbs on a 10 gallon and everything grows fine. I don't know about the VHO lights being ok. One major problem would be the distance from the bottom of the tank to the top. Some plants might have problems if you get a jungle in there( some plants might get less light than other plants).
There is many aquatic substrates out there from play sand to Aqua soil.
Flourite-Good substrate, good for beginners, some what expensive if you buy all flourite, and you have to wash it very well and let it dry. There is red, black, and normal as well in sand and chips.
Eco-complete-Black, from the Amazon, expensive and rare to find sometimes, light weight, fine with plants from what i read about it.
Aquasoil- greatest substrate for plants by some( I'm not a ADA buyer so people are going to add more to this one) and its expesive,c but very good.
Play sand- small grained, cloudy, not very rich in nutrients, and can compact.
Some substrates that are most commonly used.

You would need compressed CO2 for such as big aquarium.
Discus would need very high temperatetures because they live in the sunny side of the Amazon

so your plants would have to be able to live through high temperatures The plant finder on top top of the page would help you alot in this situation.

My comments.

lauraleellbp · 03-30-2008, 03:07 PM

IMHO 2wpg of VHO with pressurized CO2 on such a large tank should let you grow just about whatever you want. Possibly even some carpeting plants?

You will need all your bulbs to be 10000k or lower, however. A mix of 10000k and 6700k is typical, though I will only be running 10k (T5HO) over my 90gal; I personally prefer the whiter crisp look.

You truly can select whatever substrate you wish to go with; but my personal choice was to invest in a nutrient-rich substrate to give myself more leeway with dosing ferts. If you can afford ADA AquaSoil then go for it; that would cost an arm and a leg in a tank your size however. I personally plan on mixing 100lbs Fluorite with 50lb Colorquartz and layering with peat, laterite, and mulm in my 90gal.

As long as you maintain a heavily planted tank you won't really be vacuuming the substrate; mostly just tidying up dead leaves and occasional mulm buildups. Pythons are awesome for this task, though, if you don't already own one it's one of the best investments you can make; especially with multiple/large tanks.

With your lighting you will need to dose ferts; I'd recommend dry ferts to save yourself a fortune in the long term; www.RexGrigg.com is a great place to both research and purchase ferts.

x2 on you will need to be careful with both plant and livestock selections if this is to be a discus tank. Discus need temps in the mid 80s, which is too high for many plants and fish. www.simplydiscus.com is a great place to research discus tanks.

Brilliant · 03-30-2008, 05:37 PM

My growout tank has 14000k hqi's. If you ask me plants dont care about kelvin rating. I've never swapped my high kelvin bulbs because they do the job. When the time comes to replace them I will replace with kelvin rating I prefer like 8000k or 6500k.

Another thing I learned is discus do not prefer bright lighting. Lower kelvin 6500k will be ideal.

Are you looking to swap out equipment or just bulbs?

I use a mix of Eco Complete and Estes plain gravel in my discus tank. I am growing crypts, rotalas and swords in minimal light with no co2. Right now I only fertilize the tank with Tropica Master Grow and Flourish Excel at water changes. I am planning on dropping the excel doses and introducing a little boost of co2.

ingg · 04-01-2008, 06:20 AM

Definitely invest in a pressurized CO2 system. Tank, regulator, and you may want to look at running an inline reactor since you are plumbed already, can just run it in a closed loop.

I don't know much about VHO lighting, but 2 wpg of good quality lighting should be plenty over a tank this large. I'm running 1.7 wpg over my 180g of T5 lighting and it is plenty.

Substrate, tons of choices - do you want something enriched, or something inert? Enriched, like Aquasoil or Flourite, comes already loaded with nutrients for the plants. Inert, like Soilmaster Select, Turface, 3M colorquartz, need to have ferts put in them (via root tabs or other methods) and will in general require more water column dosing.

Chuck Petrosky · 06-26-2008, 01:24 PM

yes yes yes to the co2. It makes a big difference. I'm switching from a 65 to a 130 gallon and I'm using T5 lighting. I've seen tanks that use both types of lighting combined. Got a video or two on youtube 65 gallon planted tank & 130 gallon planted tank pt 1 & 2